Marketing Strategy Outline – Imagine climbing Mt. Everest is only guided by your intuition. You won’t get very far without a detailed map (and an experienced Sherpa) to guide you.
Marketing may not be an extreme sport with life and death consequences, but you still have big goals to work towards. And the success of your team depends on more than just your feelings.
Marketing Strategy Outline
That’s why a strategic marketing plan is a must, whatever your industry. Think of it as a road map that your business needs to follow each year.
Sample Marketing Plan Outline
Designing your first marketing plan can feel intimidating, but don’t worry. We’ll walk you through the basics, show you what a strategic marketing plan looks like, and even give you some free templates to get you started. Here’s what we’re going to talk about:
A strategic marketing plan is the official document that guides your team’s marketing efforts throughout the year. It maps your annual marketing goals to your company’s overall business goals while also outlining how you will spend your annual marketing budget.
Keep in mind that your plan may vary depending on your industry and goals. Length and format are not as important as the details you provide. Do your research and make it easy for business leaders to understand how your strategic marketing plan is helping their business grow.
Describe how to execute part of the marketing plan with specific tactical objectives. You can do this by launching an email or social media campaign, publishing a blog series, offering a special promo, or holding a live event.
How To Create A Marketing Plan Template You’ll Actually Use
, on the other hand, is the framework that drives your entire marketing strategy. It’s a holistic view of the who, what and why behind your marketing goals, with a focus on connecting them to your larger business goals.
No two marketing plans are alike, but they do have some similarities. Here are 6 key elements to identify and research before creating your next strategic marketing plan.
Everything you do as a marketing team should support your company’s overall strategy and goals. So summarize your organization’s business goals and let them be the true north of your marketing plan. Your team and stakeholders should be able to clearly see how the marketing strategy and goals you outline in your plan align with your company’s top priorities.
A SWOT analysis breaks down a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This allows you to assess the internal and external factors that influence your success so that you can develop a targeted strategy that closes the gap and produces results.
Marketing Strategy Templates To Use In 2023 — Goals, Positioning, Personas, & More
Research is the core of any marketing plan used to shape your goals and strategy. Don’t be afraid to dive into the details here. A well-researched marketing plan is worth the time it takes.
Focusing research energy in these areas will provide a solid foundation for intelligent marketing decisions.
It’s important to understand the major movements in the industry you’re marketing so you can feel the pulse of the market. Do thorough research on the industry your company operates in and be sure to report on the general climate as well as important events. If your company serves a sub-sector, don’t forget to include it in your analysis as well.
Mass marketing rarely pays off. Therefore, narrowing down your target audience is a must for any marketing plan. Think of it as a filter that you put through every marketing strategy.
Go To Market Strategy Framework
The more specific you can get, the better. Answering questions like these can help you create a clear picture of your ideal buyer, so you know how to focus your resources to make a bigger impact on the people you’re trying to reach.
It’s also important to know who and what you’re doing when it comes to attracting the perfect buyer. Identify the key players in your space and give a brief overview of what they do to win. These basics make it easier to see how you can differentiate yourself from the competition.
Now that you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to talk strategy. Describe your strategic marketing goals for the year and briefly explain how these strategies support your company-wide goals. Use a Gantt chart to set a timeline for each goal and monitor results along the way. It’s an easy way to set expectations and keep your team and stakeholders in the loop.
Metrics where the rubber hits the road in your marketing plan. Use market research to determine specific KPIs, or key marketing metrics, that will measure success. This helps you track your progress so you know if you need to change course mid-project to ensure you’re meeting your strategic marketing goals.
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Marketing channels are the methods you use to reach your target audience and grow your brand. Choose your channels wisely based on where you expect to get the most bang for your marketing budget. Briefly explain the purpose of each channel and how it supports your marketing strategy and overall business goals.
Want to create a more detailed plan for each marketing channel so you can bring your ideas to life? For more information on planning by channel, see our free social media strategy plan and editorial content plan template.
Setting a monthly budget for your marketing plan – and tracking it – will help you maximize your ROI and identify wasteful spend before it eats up your marketing dollars.
Start by keeping track of all your ongoing expenses so you know what to spend on your new initiative. Then do your best to estimate the new expenses that await you next year. Don’t forget to consider any new hires, freelancers, or third-party agencies you may need to rely on to get the job done.
Step Up Your Marketing Journey
Not sure where to start? We have people! Here are some examples of how you can create a marketing plan so you can easily start writing your own.
Your marketing plan may vary depending on the industry you work in or the goals you are focusing on. Use these marketing plan templates and examples as a guide to start the process and develop a marketing plan structure that works for you.
The most common way to create a marketing plan is to simply write it as a text document. This format allows you to freely explain all the research collected during the discovery while providing a clear argument for the marketing goals you have set for the year.
We’ve created a free Google Docs marketing plan template to save you time and speed up your planning process. This sample marketing plan is ideal for documenting and sharing the scope of your strategic marketing plan with your team and stakeholders.
Marketing Plan Examples, Samples, & Templates
Save a copy of the template to Google Drive or download it as a Word document and customize it to fit the needs of your own strategic marketing plan.
Plans are worthless if you make them and forget them. This is a Gantt chart. Use this free Gantt chart marketing plan template to track your strategic marketing plan to success.
A Gantt chart is a great way to organize your marketing plan with a visual timeline that’s easy to update as you work. It provides an overview of the main goals and strategies of your plan and allows you to collaborate and share your plan with your team and stakeholders.
How you use the Gantt chart to implement your plan is entirely up to you. Create a schedule of tasks that need to be completed when developing a marketing plan, like the example below.
What Is A Marketing Plan? Types And How To Write One
Once you’ve finalized the details of your marketing plan, you can use a Gantt chart to define and track your strategic marketing goals. For example, you can break down your marketing plan by quarter to show when certain goals are being met, and update your progress as you get closer to your goals. This is what it looks like.
Customizing the template is quick and easy, thanks to. And because everything is online, your entire team can collaborate on activities in real time.
Here are some pointers to help you get the most out of your free strategic marketing plan template.
Configuring your marketing plan is as easy as dragging and dropping tasks – or entire groups of tasks – into the right places. Click and drag the edge of each taskbar to set the duration of the new task.
Free Go To Market Strategy Templates
Collaboration is easy with the discussion feature of . Share documents and chat with your team right from the task
Do you have a more formal marketing plan document? Attach a file or link to your project to make it easy for everyone to access.
The plan needs to be shared, so we’ve made it easy for the most curious stakeholders. Export your plan to a printer-friendly PDF or share a view-only link to your project so stakeholders can see the progress of your marketing plan in real time.
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